Group therapy session deaths in Berlin Doctor admits: "I gave patients drug cocktail!"
The 50-year-old was arrested on Saturday at his practice in a quiet Berlin neighbourhood after the incident.
Two men aged 59 and 28 died, and ten other patients were poisoned – one of whom is in a critical condition in a coma.
Following his arrest, the doctor admitted to giving his participants a cocktail of drugs.
On Sunday night, the Tiergarten district court imposed an official arrest warrant against him. He remains in provisional custody.
Prosecutors announced that the man is suspected with two cases of inflicting bodily harm resulting in death, and in a further six cases for causing serious bodily harm.
The judge also ruled that the suspect is a flight risk.
The ‘Morgenpost online’ reported that the doctor offered a deadly mix comprised of heroin, amphetamines and ecstasy.
But the fatal session’s background story is still unclear.
A sign in front of his practice offers treatment for addiction, “help with spiritual crises” and “psycholytic” therapy.
Psychoactive substances such as narcotics and mushrooms were used.
Garri R. acquired his knowledge from Swiss doctor and psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Widmer, founder of the ‘Kirschblütengemeinschaft’ (Cherry Blossom Society) for spiritual self-awareness.
The doctor encouraged taking mind-altering substances as a solution to psychological blockages and problems.
Why did Garri R.’s meeting spin out of control?
At 3.21pm on Saturday, a total of 30 rescue workers, including three emergency aid doctors, six ambulances and a helicopter, were sent to the scene.
Apparently not all of the session’s participants wanted help, as up to a hundred police officers were required to get the men and women under control.
After searching the building, the workers discovered a 59-year-old man dead in the attic. Two other patients needed to be revived in the hospital, one of whom (28) died late on Saturday night.
Neighbours were stunned by the incident: "Something like this in our area," said one.
Another resident said: "They were always nice."
The whereabouts of the therapist’s partner and their three kids are unknown.
Mentor Dr. Widmer does not understand how the tragedy could have happened.
He told BILD that hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin were forbidden for his therapies in Switzerlandand Germany, but “ketamine and ephedrine were allowed”.
Ketamine is an anaesthetic used on patients during a recovery phase, and ephedrine works to reduce inhibitions. Patient would supposedly thus become conscious of any hidden traumas.
In the Berlin case, Windmer can’t understand how the therapy could have resulted in death. “It is a shock, and it could only have been poison. (…) I don’t know, because the doses are precisely balanced. Something must have gone wrong with that.”
Laszlo Pota, Vice President of the German Psychologists Association, said on Sunday that the use of drugs at therapy sessions is “clearly forbidden”. He could not understand what brought the Berlin physician to administer these kinds of substances.
